Protective suit neck enclosure



March 1955 1.. A. SPANO ETAL 3,172,126

PROTECTIVE sun NECK ENCLOSURE Filed April 25, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 PROTECTIVE SUIT NECK ENCLOSURE 3 sheets -sheet 2 Filed April 23, 1963 HIIIiTI March 9, 1965 L. A. sPANo ETAL PROTECTIVE SUIT NECK ENCLOSURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 25, 1963 quickly and easily attach 3,172,126 Patented Mar. 9, 1965 3,172,126 PRQTECTEVE-SUIT NECK ENCLQSURE Leo A. Spano, Cumberland Eiil, and Vincent Iacono,

Rumford, KL, and Harry Austin, Monroeviiimga assignors to Mine SafetyAppliances Company, Pittsburgh, Pa, a cerporah'cu. of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 23, 1963', Ser. No. 274,2 8}

6 Claims. (Cl; 2-2.1)

This invention relates to wearing apparelthat isolates the wearer from the surrounding atmosphere, and more particularly to the portion of theapparel that connects the bottom of, a helmet to the top of a protective suit.

'In such apparel the movements of the wearer should be as unrestricted as possible, so he should be free to move his head in any direction without being hampered by a stiff connection between the helmet and the suit. At the same time it is highly desirable to isolate the area inside the helmet from the inside of the suit below it so that the air that is breathed will not have to fill the whole suit and the wearer will not have to breathe stale air from the suit. Also, it is important to be able to i i i the helmet to the suit and remove it therefrom.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of this invention to provide a neck enclosure or connecting the bottom of a helmet with the, top of a protective suit, which is extremely flexible in all directions, which is provided interiorly with means for sealing one end of the enclosure from the opposite end, which a user can quickly put on and remove, and which isreadily attached to the helmet and suit.

In accordance with this invention a flexible upright sleeve, which is designed to loosely enclose the neck, has a central annular portion that is telescoped upon itself to form a downwardly directed outer fold below an upwardly directed inner fold in order toprovide flexibility in all directions. Disposed inside the sleeve is a flexible 'collar member that is provided with a neck-receiving opening having an elastic collar band extending vertically from it. The outer edge of the collar member is secured to the inside of the sleeve. The front of the collar band and the portion of the collar member in front of it are provided with a placket that allows the collar member to be drawn over the head. In use,'the placket is closed by a gas-tight fastener to form a seal around the neck. The upper and lower ends of the sleeve are provided with means for attaching it to a helment and protective suit.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side view of the neck enclosure attached to a helmet and a protective suit;

FIG. 2 is a front view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the neck enclosure, taken on the line IIII of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section through the enclosure, taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3. 7

Referring to the drawings, a head covering helmet H is connected to a protective suit S by means of a neck enclosure N that is suspended from the bottom of the helmet and attached to the suit around the neck hole in its top. The inside cross sectional area of the neck enclosure is much larger than a persons neck in order to allow completely free head and neck movements and to avoid any possibility of pressure, binding or restraint on the neck. The outside of the enclosure is formed from a generally vertical sleeve 1 made of suitable impervious fabric. The upper end of the sleeve is provided with gas-tight attaching means, preferably an outside zipper 2, for detachably connecting it to a fabric band 3 joined to the lower part of the helmet. The lower end of thesleeve may be provided with a similar fas tener 4' for attaching it to the suit. Ordinarily, the sleeve remains attached to the helmet and is disconnected only from the suit when it is desired to take off the suit and helmet.

In order that the fabric sleeve may normally besmoot-h and trim instead of bulging out around the; neck and wrinking, and yet not restrain turning the head or bending it to one side or the other, a central annular portion of the sleeve is te'lescoped uponjitselfto form a downwardly directed'outer fold 6' below an upwardly directed inner fold 7. Although the sleeve may be made in one piece,- the folds retain their shape better if it is formed a from an upper section overlapping a lower section, with a central section 8 between them connected at its top to the top of the lower section and at its bottom to the bottom of the upper section. Also, to make sure that'the folds will always return to their original form after they 7 upper end of the sleeve to move away from each otherwhen thehead is moved, but when the tension on the sleeve is released they will pull the inner fold" and the upper end of the sleeve back toward each other to maintain the telescopedor folded central portionof the sleeve.

The upperandlower ends of the sleeve are separated by a flexible collar member 11 located inside the sleeve. This collar member is provided with a neck-receiving opening lzthat has a soft elastic collar band 1-3 extending vertically from it for snugly fitting around the neck of the wearer. The outer edge of the collar member is joined throughout its length to the inside of the sleeve, preferably to the top of the inner fold 7 of the sleeve in order to provide maximum flexibility. This collar member forms a partition that extends across the sleeve, except for the neck opening which is closed by the neck of the wearer, and the collar member therefore seals off the upper part of the sleeve from the lower part. Since the wearers head must pass through the collar member, it is highly desirable to form it so that it can be opened for that purpose. Otherwise, the collar band would have to stretch sufiiciently to go over his head and then the seal between the band and his neck would be impaired. The front of the collar band and the portion of the collar member in front of it therefore are provided with a placket 14 which, together with the neck opening in the collar member, forms a large enough opening for the head. After the neck enclosure is in place around the neck of the wearer, the placket is sealed by a gas-tight fastener, preferably a zipper 15. As it is desirable that the upper end of the sleeve be attached to the helmet before the neck enclosure is drawn down over the head, the fastener for placket 14 should be operable from beneath the collar member before the lower end of the sleeve is attached to the suit. To permit'this to be done, the collar band 13 should extend downwardly from the neck opening so that fastener 15 will be at the outside of the band instead of against the neck.

This neck enclosure is well suited to support inhalation and exhalation valves below the helmet. They should be mounted in sleeve 1 above outer fold 6 so that they will communicate directly with the space in the sleeve above collar member 11. For example, an inhalation valve 17 (FIGS. 1 and 4) can be mounted in the back of the upper section of the sleeve, and an exhalation valve 18 can be mounted in the front of the sleeve and provided with an exhalation tube 19, the upper end of which is designed for insertion in the mouth. The exhalation valve may be located at one side of a speaking diaphragm unit 20 in the center of the front of the sleeve, and an exhaust valve 21 that is opened when the air pressure inside the sleeve reaches a predetermined maximum can be mounted at the other side of the diaphragm unit.

A neck enclosure made in the manner disclosed herein not only is very flexible in all directions, but it always maintains a neat appearance without unsightly and objectionable bulges, folds and wrinkles.

According tothe provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, We desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. A neck enclosure for connecting the bottom of a helmet with the top of a protective suit, said enclosure comprising a flexible upright sleeve having a central annular portion telescoped upon itself to form a downwardly directed outer fold below an upwardly directed inner fold, a flexible collar member inside the sleeve provided with a neck-receiving opening having an elastic collar band extending vertically therefrom, the collar member having an outer edge secured to the inside of the sleeve, the front of the collar band and the portion of the collar member in front of it being provided with a placket, a gas-tight fastener for closing said placket, helmet-attaching means at the upper end of the sleeve, and suit-attaching means at the lower end of the sleeve.

2. A neck enclosure according to claim 1, in which said outer edge of the collar member is secured to the top of said inner fold of the sleeve.

3. A neck enclosure according to claim 1, in which said collar band extends downwardly from said opening,

4. A neck enclosure for detachably connecting the bottom of a helmet with the top of a protective suit, said enclosure comprising a flexible upright sleeve, a flexible collar member inside the sleeve provided with a neckreceiving opening having an elastic collar band extending downwardly therefrom, the collar member having an outer edge secured to the inside of the sleeve, the front of the collar band and the portion of the collar member in front of it being provided with a placket, a gas-tight slide fastener for closing the placket operable from beneath said collar member from end to end of the placket, a helmet-attaching slide fastener at the upper end of the sleeve, and a suit-attaching slide fastener at the lower end of the sleeve.

5. A neck enclosure for connecting the bottom of a helmet with the top of a protective suit, said enclosure comprising a flexible upright sleeve having a central annular portion telescoped upon itself to form a down- 1 wardly directed outer fold below an upwardly directed and said fastener is a slide fastener secured to the bottom of the collar member and provided with means for operating it from beneath said collar member.

inner fold, a flexible collar member inside the sleeve provided with a neck-receiving opening having an elastic collar band extending vertically therefrom, the collar member having an outer edge secured to the inside of the sleeve, the front of the collar band and the portion of the collar member in front of it being provided with a placket, a gas-tight fastener for closing said placket, helmet-attaching means at the upper end of the sleeve, longitudinally resilient members at circumferentially spaced points around the inside of said sleeve and having upper ends attached to the upper end of the sleeve, said resilient members having lower ends attached to the top of said inner fold to normally maintain said central portion of the sleeve telescoped, and suit-attaching means at the lower end of the sleeve.

6. A neck enclosure according to claim 5, in which said resilient members are elastic strips.

Ackerman et al. Dec. 4, 1945 Krupp Oct. 4, 1960 

1. A NECK ENCLOSURE FOR CONNECTING THE BOTTOM OF A HELMET WITH THE TOP OF A PROTECTIVE SUIT, SAID ENCLOSURE COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE UPRIGHT SLEEVE HAVING A CENTRAL ANNULAR PORTION TELESCOPED UPON ITSELF TO FORM A DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED OUTER FOLD BELOW AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED INNER FOLD, A FLEXIBLE COLLAR MEMBER INSIDE THE SLEEVE PROVIDED WITH A NECK-RECEIVING OPENING HAVING AN ELASTIC COLLAR BAND EXTENDING VERTICALLY THEREFROM, THE COLLAR 